Amazigh Constitutionalization in Morocco: Stakes and Strategies

Transcription

1 Amazigh Constitutionalization in Morocco: Stakes and Strategies Ahmed BOUKOUS T he Amazigh is recognized as an official language, alongside Arabic, in the Constitution adopted on July 1 st, This is a historical event unprecedented in Morocco and in the countries where the Amazigh is a national language. This recognition opens up considerable prospects towards the revitalization of the Amazigh and impulse decisively the process of institutionalization of the language and the culture. Thus, new stakes and challenges are getting more and more visible on Moroccan political scene. Indeed, the positive management of these stakes and challenges requires new strategies at the level of the central State and at the level of regional institutions as well. 67 I. The dynamics of sociolinguistic situation The particular sociolinguistic situation prevailing in Morocco is marked by a dynamics which brings the different languages into interaction. The language market is stratified according the following format: an ex-colonial, super-central language (French) > a central language (Arabic) > a national coined (Colloquial Arabic) > a local language (Amazigh). As for English, the hypercentral language at the global level, it still has a marginal role in Morocco. The stratification of the language market reflects the competition of the

2 Ahmed BOUKOUS co-existing languages in terms of socio-political status, language functions and domains of use. Thus, French competes with Standard Arabic in the functions and practices associated with strong languages, particularly in the fields of modern economy, technology, education, and the media. Standard Arabic is used exclusively in the domains of religion and judicature; in other domains, it is in conflict with French. Colloquial Arabic is the prevalent language of communication in informal domains. As such, it is the principal competitor with Amazigh and still represents the most imminent danger for Amazigh, which is confined to the functions and uses of a vernacular language. But, undeniably, the new status of Amazigh, as an official language, will reinforce its position within the linguistic market by assigning it new socio-cultural roles and functions which will conduct more positive attitudes from speakers. 68 The power relations between languages are obviously unstable; they evolve with the dynamism of the political and sociolinguistic situation. Ensuing from this is the fact that the position of languages depends on the social groups that support them and that identify with them. Roughly, from this standpoint and according to the declared attitudes, the speakers positions are relatively clear. Generally speaking, the groups which mobilize the identity discourse aiming at the recognition of cultural and linguistic rights, indigenousness or communitarianism, often identify with Amazighophony. Those which take their sources in Arab-Islamist patrimonialism support Arabophony; while those which are for liberalism and integration in globalization are more open to bilingualism, which, in the perspective of this group, is the high road towards managing this situation. For some, this bilingualism involves Standard Arabic and French, given the weight of past colonialism and the constraints of the current realities. For others, preference is for Standard Arabic-English bilingualism. The latter assume a prospective vision, wondering whether French is efficient as a viable linguistic medium for openness to the international scene and the global culture of the present times. This question derives from the fact that French is increasingly marginalized on the international scene and progressively on the Francophone scene itself, namely in the domains of finance, marketing, and scientific and technological research. However, one may wonder in what ways access to the hyper-central language (English) and/or super-central language (French), which remains the prerogative of the dominant classes, is not socially discriminatory, acting as a barrier to integrating the elite group. The status of French in Francophone Africa perfectly illustrates this situation (see Myers-Scotton, 1990). Institut Universitaire Varenne

3 Amazigh Constitutionalization in Morocco: Stakes and Strategies The past and current history of the Maghreb region is a heavy burden on the communities and their institutions which are obliged to manage composite situations. These situations involve an overlap between endogenous elements relating to the local stratum and exogenous ones imposed by globalization, hence the conflict between tradition and modernity, identity isolationism, or, on the contrary, forced extraversion. Managing the problem of linguistic diversity is undertaken essentially within the framework of the language policy adopted by the State and the sociolinguistic dynamics generated by the community. However, the State policy may be authoritarian, efficient or merely ideological and platonic. A non-authoritarian and efficient policy is one that meets the requirements of democracy and equity, i.e. a consensual policy formulated at the constitutional level and implemented at the institutional and operational ones. Thus, the nature of the management of languages is an indicator of the quality of governance, which has a direct bearing on human development. Such a belief is shared by specialists (see Weinstein, 1990). Since their independence, Maghrebian states have adopted a language policy which proclaims the primacy of Standard Arabic but which functions, in reality, as a default policy. Thus, the general trend has consisted in letting the competition between languages take its natural course, even if a legal arsenal, which is just as coercive as inefficient, is sometimes deployed in support of the Arabization option, that is the substitution of Arabic for French. The multilingualism that characterizes the linguistic scene in the Maghreb is based on the practice of diglossia, that is to say that speakers communicate in situations where the social uses prioritize languages in terms of high, strong varieties as opposed to low, weak ones (see Ferguson, 1959; Fishman, 1978). Generally speaking, this sociolinguistic phenomenon is inherent in social groups undergoing linguistic diversity as a hybrid product of the contact of globalization and localization. The minoritization of the local languages is explained by their competition and conflict with exogenous linguistic products, whose superiority in terms of weight and value leads to providing their users with substantial symbolic and material profits and advantages (see Bourdieu, 1982). 69 II. Social Trends and Revitalization The issues involved in the positioning of forces present in the political field in terms of managing the Amazigh issue challenge the State, the political class and society in genral. It must be kept in mind that the problem of the Amazigh language and culture has long been taboo. This has been so

4 Ahmed BOUKOUS 70 mainly because of the desire to build a centralized and strong nation-state, annihilating particularistic forces which have a regional or tribal nature, and because of the impact of the legacy of the nationalist ideology produced by the urban Arabist bourgeoisie, which considers the Amazigh identity as a real or potential danger to Arabness and/or Islamicness. If such was the situation for several decades after independence from French rule (1956), now there is the beginning of a shift in mentalities, positions and behaviors. Indeed, despite the fact that former Moroccan constitutions made no mention of the Amazigh language; however, some indices can be interpreted as signs of institutional recognition. Examples are the 2001 Royal speeches (July 30 th and October 17 th ), which recognize the place that goes to Amazighness in national identity, the teaching of Amazigh, which covers primary education and is about to start in higher education, the integration of Amazigh in the media landscape, particularly by the launching of the Tamazight television channel (TV8), the outputs of IRCAM in promoting the Amazigh language and culture, and the assertion of a positive feeling of identity at the societal level, etc. Social attitudes and representations of Amazighness are now drastically changing as a result of the constitutional recognition of Amazigh as an official language in The civil society has played a crucial role in the struggle for official recognition of Amazigh through various actions, especially cultural activities and activist demonstrations. The trend within the Amazigh movement for the constitution of political associations is a new deal that could, if the subjective and objective conditions required are available, yield a reconfiguration of the political field by making the Amazighness issue a political challenge. The conditions of the possibility of management the Amazigh issue within the sovereignty approach lie in the ability of the Amazigh movement to shift from the status of a trend with a communitarianist and indigenous tendency to a social movement which bears an alternative and viable political project. This presupposes the emergence of an autonomous leadership that is able to devise a strategy that permits the generation of new mobilizing symbols transcending mechanical solidarity and traditional loyalties, the adoption of new modes of organization and new forms of claims and a large repertoire of collective action (see Touraine, 1978; Neveu, 1996). In short, there is a need for a political elite which does not aim only at the mobilization of ethnicity in the struggle for participation in power and control of the State in order to share prebends and privileges. Within the global context, characterized by the dual polarization of globalization and localization, the question of the politicization of identities related with the formation of states is a fact that is bound to spread. The Amazigh field is no exception to this rule, hence the need for the State, strategists and political scientists, to give it the attention Institut Universitaire Varenne

5 Amazigh Constitutionalization in Morocco: Stakes and Strategies it deserves because it could well be the scene of political and socio-economic aspects that go beyond cultural and linguistic aspects. Despite the complexity of the problems facing Maghrebian societies, they cannot do without a rational and impartial elucidation of their contradictions, particularly those inherent in the linguistic and cultural diversity. The challenge of this problem is the regulation of contradictions between the centripetal tendency which reduces plurality to singularity, diversity to unity, and unity to uniqueness, on the one hand, and the autonomist tendency, which proclaims an absolute, irreducible identity, on the other hand. The transition from a society founded on identity polarities based on conflictual mechanical, ethnolinguistic or religious solidarity to a society based on the organic relations (Durkheim, 1999) of the contract on which social cohesion is based is the key challenge of the transformation of Maghrebian communities. Thus, it is clear that the basic challenge resides in knowing how to manage the dichotomy between universality and specificity in terms of recognizing and guaranteeing human rights in their entirety, i.e. civic, political, economic, social, cultural and linguistic rights. This means that the human being s dignity is antinomian with poverty, ignorance, and the denial of his cultural identity. III. Glocalization and Revitalization 71 The problem of the endangerment vs revitalization of Amazigh should be dealt with in a way that examines both what is global and what is local in the issue, at the same time. Thus, the stakes and challenges involved in the process of changing the status and structure of Amazigh language are comprehended in the context of glocalization. Calqued on the Japanese word dochakuta, meaning global localization, the term glocalization refers to a concept developed in the field of economic and financial practices in a perspective that combines global trends with local realities. This articulation of globalization on localization has the advantage, firstly, of opening up what is local on the macro-environment facts, namely the political, economic, cultural and technological ones. It also makes it possible to adjust these facts to local characteristics, including historical, cultural, religious and political ones. The value of the glocalization approach is to provide a lever for controlling the effects of dominance induced by globalization and those related to the resilience mechanisms generated by local specificities. Transposed into the cultural and linguistic domain, the concept of glocalization is an analytical tool that enables the scholar to describe and explain the synergy of endogenous

6 Ahmed BOUKOUS 72 and exogenous cultural and linguistic phenomena. The processes involved in this synergy are driven by the interplay of the contradictory forces of localization and globalization. The forces of localization have their seal marks the realities of political, economic, social, cultural and linguistic facts, reflecting the specificities of communities; while the forces of globalization drive general tendencies that impose and establish, at a global scale, the dominant linguistic and cultural products by the means available to the imperial policies and economies. For most states and societies, in the world, the motto thinking global and acting local is the strategic equation to solve. This equation arises even more crucially in the countries of the South as they face head on both the positive and the perverse effects of globalization. The question to be addressed then is the following: What benefits can be drawn from globalization on a local scale? The ideational answer may lie in the rational and impartial management of the binomial globalization/localization in terms of glocalization. In the linguistic field, this necessarily requires the mastery of the rules of the language market, rules underlain at the same time by the centripetal forces of globalization and the centrifugal forces of localization. This shows the importance of the issues and challenges of glocalization in the region, i.e. the necessary synergy between the best practices at the local and global levels. Maghreb societies are learning new socio-political conditions within a macro-environment which tends to be favorable to human rights and democratic reforms. They are, thus, in search of a society project based on political democracy, linguistic and cultural plurality, controlled modernity, and human development. Managing the diversity of languages and cultures, which some consider as a source of difficulty and potential risk, can be a lever within an equitable governance of this project. Indeed, there is evidence that a policy based on the constitutional recognition of linguistic diversity is to guarantee equality of opportunity for languages and cultures. Better yet, a policy of positive discrimination in favor of the minoritized languages and cultures could enable them to escape the inevitability of death (see Crystal, 2004). Therefore, the platonic and symbolic recognition of the diversity of languages and cultures may not be able to provide the conditions for the perenniality of endangered languages. IV. Territorialization of Linguistic Rights In Morocco, the Amazigh cultural and linguistic issue could find an appropriate solution in the framework of the new regionalization policy announced by King Mohammed VI in the speeches of 30 July, 2001, of Institut Universitaire Varenne

7 Amazigh Constitutionalization in Morocco: Stakes and Strategies 7 November, 2008 and of 3 January, 2010, in which regionalization is presented as a strategic choice that should serve democracy and development. The Moroccan experience is supposed to be a vanguard model of regionalization for developing countries. In the first speech, the cultural dimension of regionalization is strongly present. It is clear that the regionalization project presents the ingredients which legitimize a healthy political management of the Amazigh issue in the context of the advanced regionalization advocated by the King, a conception that attaches to the symbolic, cultural and linguistic dimension all its value and importance in building the regional and national identity. On reading the report of the Advisory Board of Advanced Regionalization (March 2011), it appears that the proposed territorial division responds to administrative and security considerations in the first place. In fact, the cultural and linguistic dimensions have not been taken into account since the traditionally Amazighophone regions are included in areas where there are also Arabic speaking communities. It is thus clear that the configuration of the regional map as presented in the report does not make it possible to provide the Amazigh language and culture the spatial environment enabling the conditions for sustainability. The paradox of the applicability of a territorial approach to the Amazigh language and culture can be raised as follows: Territorialization provides a natural space with the historical, cultural and socio-economic foundations that ensure the effective conditions for safeguarding, transmitting and promoting the Amazigh language and culture in its diversity; Territorialization strengthens the splitting of the Amazigh language and culture into dialects and varieties, thereby preventing the standardization of a common language, in addition; Territorialization leads to ignoring the Amazighophone communities secluded in Arabic-speaking agglomerations especially in the cities; Solving this problem could be part of a Finnish solution. Indeed, in Finland, to any minority reaching 10% of the population applies the principle of differential legal status guaranteeing the rights of minorities to the teaching of their language and culture as part of personal rights. 73 In the light of the consideration of the various alternatives for the political management of the Amazigh issue, it appears that, without effective political will, without real commitment from the State and without the consensus of all parties involved in the linguistic and cultural issue, initiatives to revitalize Amazigh can only be a cautery on a wooden leg or slogans without substance. Besides general policy choices, the choice of the framework in

8 Ahmed BOUKOUS which the Amazigh cultural and linguistic issue is to be managed is crucial. A serious question is: in terms of governance, is it appropriate to adopt the principle of individual rights, with either the status of the minority culturelanguage, i.e. that of the co-language in the Arab-Amazigh bicultural/ bilingual regime of the country, or the principle of territorial rights in the context of advanced regionalization? The risks are as follows: in the first choice, the effectiveness of equal rights with Arabic is unlikely and, in the second choice, strengthening the dialectalization of the language and the fragmentation of Amazighness are insured. The third choice would be that of the political and legal blur, a blur which is detrimental to diversity in general and Amazighness in particular. V. Glocalization, Equity, and Ethics 74 In its environment, Amazigh is certainly confronted with forces which tend to maintain the status quo, that in which Amazigh is a minoritized language. These forces emanate, on the one hand, from socio-political circles which see in the officialization of Amazigh a danger for the Arabic language and culture and for the integration of the Moroccan society in the Arab-Islamic world. On the other hand, there is a universalist trend, which consider the recognition of Amazigh a historical disability that would be in the path of progress and modernity. To struggle against this denial, the Amazighist movement adopted a strategy of symbolic differentiation, with different tones, investing the socio-political field to contribute to its reconfiguration and to break the monopoly of the Arab-Islamist ideology underlying it. In this strategy, Amazighophony serves as a center of identity crystallization through the mobilization of legitimacy in a two-fold fashion: historical legitimacy based on the indigenousness of Amazigh people, and legitimacy based on human rights, namely linguistic and cultural rights. The salient challenge related to the issue of language revitalization through constitutionalization is certainly political. It is determined by the nature of the state system and the choice of a visionary strategy. The alternative options are: a policy based on absolute identities or a political culture dedicated to promoting diversity. From this perspective, the relevant question is which model to adopt so as to preserve the wealth and diversity of the world s linguistic and cultural ecology. In view of equity and ethics, it can only be a model based on the repository of human rights as defined in the legal instruments of universal law. From the perspective of the revitalization strategy, this choice satisfies the local expectations for the sustainability of their linguistic patrimony. At the same time, it benefits from the experiences Institut Universitaire Varenne

9 Amazigh Constitutionalization in Morocco: Stakes and Strategies of good practices around the world, experiences that show how the glocalization approach can trigger the revitalization process of endangered language varieties. Bibliography BOUKOUS Ahmed, Revitalizing the Amazigh Language, Rabat, IRCAM Publications, BOURDIEU Pierre, Ce que parler veut dire. Économie des échanges linguistiques, Paris, Fayard, CRYSTAL David, Language Death. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, DURKHEIM Emile, Education et sociologie. Paris, PUF, FERGUSON Charles A., Diglossia, Word, n o 15, 1959, p FISHMAN Joshua, Advances in the study of societal multilingualism, La Haye, Mouton, MYERS-SCOTTON Carol, Elite Closure as Boundary Maintenance. The case of Africa, in Brian WEINSTEIN, Language Policy and Political Development, Santa Barbara, Praeger, 1990, p NEVEU Éric, Sociologie des mouvements sociaux. Paris, La Découverte, TOURAINE Alain, La voix et le regard. Paris, Le Seuil, WEINSTEIN Brian, Language Policy and Political Development, Santa Barbara, Praeger,